Slave descendants take a fight to protect their Georgia island homes to
voters
[January 20, 2026]
By RUSS BYNUM
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Voters in a coastal Georgia county will decide
Tuesday whether large homes should be allowed on remote Sapelo Island,
where Black landowners fear the change could saddle them with
unaffordable property taxes in one of the South’s few remaining Gullah-Geechee
communities founded by freed slaves.
The referendum organized by island residents seeks to override McIntosh
County commissioners’ 2023 decision to double the size of homes allowed
in the tiny Hogg Hummock community. Their vote weakened building limits
that for decades helped keep property taxes low for one of America’s
most culturally unique Black populations.
Tensions between Hogg Hummock's Black landowners and county officials
have been high for more than a decade, fueled by outsiders buying land
in the community and building vacation homes. Island natives worry their
taxes will balloon as wealthy buyers build larges homes, increasing
property values. Commissioners have blamed the changing landscape on
native owners who sold their land.
Black residents and their supporters brought the fight to voters after
gathering more than 2,300 petition signatures and challenging
commissioners before the Georgia Supreme Court to force a special
election.
Regardless of the outcome, the vote wasn't expected to settle the
dispute.
“I strongly believe we’re going to win,” said Jazz Watts, a Hogg Hummock
descendant and landowner who was among the organizers of the referendum
push. “What happens next is still kind of a legal question based on what
the county does.”
Island may see land values spike in new tax assessment
Commissioners have said that if voters repeal their zoning changes, they
will consider Hogg Hummock to be without any limits on development
rather than go back to building restrictions that protected the
community for three decades.
That could lead to another court fight. Dana Braun, an attorney for the
Hogg Hummock landowners, accused county officials of “pushing this
ludicrous argument” in an effort to defeat the referendum.
Commissioners could also try to push through a new zoning law for Hogg
Hummock.
“I do believe there exists a willingness by the Board to consider a
moratorium on zonings and building permits,” Commission Chairperson Kate
Pontello Karwacki told The Associated Press in an email “However, the
Board will have to collectively agree on next steps.”
Meanwhile, county assessors are weighing a proposal to recalculate the
taxable value of Hogg Hummock properties for the first time since 2012.
Their chief appraiser, Blair McLinn, predicts landowners could see
painful increases, with values per half-acre possibly jumping from an
average of $27,500 to $145,000.
McLinn said he plans to meet with island residents to hear their
concerns. But given nearly 20 sales in recent years with half-acre lots
fetching up to $210,000, he said, steep increases seem unavoidable.
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Ire Gene Grovner walks through remnants of the old slave's quarters
at the Chocolate Plantation where his ancestors lived some eight
generations ago on Sapelo Island, Ga., on May 16, 2013. (AP
Photo/David Goldman, File)
“To leave it alone is not going to be an option, as far as
revaluation goes,” McLinn said in a phone interview.
Recognized as a US treasure, island relies on local protection
Located about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Savannah, Sapelo
Island remains largely unspoiled. The state of Georgia owns most of
its 30 square miles (78 square kilometers), and there are no roads
linking the island to the mainland.
Hogg Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock, sits on less than a square
mile. About 30 to 50 Black residents still live in modest homes
along dirt roads in the community.
Gullah-Geechee communities are scattered along the Southeast coast
from North Carolina to Florida, where they have endured since the
Civil War ended. Scholars say separation from the mainland caused
these communities to retain much of their African heritage,
including a unique dialect.
Hogg Hummock earned a place in 1996 on the National Register of
Historic Places, the official list of treasured U.S. historic sites.
But for protections to preserve the community, residents depend on
the local government in McIntosh County, where 65% of the 11,100
residents are white.
“People worked hard to get this land on Sapelo and they worked hard
to preserve who they are," said Maurice Bailey, an island native who
runs a program aimed at boosting farming in the community. "Without
this land, all of our descendants lose their connection.”
Dozens of the island's Black landowners protested after being hit
with sharp property tax increases in 2012, and county officials
rolled back their tax bills. Island residents followed up with a
lawsuit accusing McIntosh County of taxing them while providing
minimal services. A 2022 settlement froze island property
assessments through last year.
Island residents said they were blindsided in 2023 when
commissioners moved swiftly to weaken a special zoning ordinance
enacted three decades earlier to protect Hogg Hummock landowners
from unaffordable tax increases.
Commissioners voted to increase the maximum size of homes in Hogg
Hummock from 1,400 to 3,000 square feet (130 to 278 square meters).
They said the changes would allow more living space for families and
denied seeking to displace Black landowners.
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